Releford was hot early and never really cooled down Thursday in Alabama's 76-64 victory over the Red Raiders before an announced Coleman Coliseum crowd of 10,476. The senior point guard nailed five 3-pointers in the first half and caused constant stress on Texas Tech's defense with his drives to the hoop in the second half.

The end result was 29 points on 11-of-14 shooting. It's the kind of performance Alabama fans will probably see more often than the one he had last week against Oklahoma.

"I knew Trevor Releford would bounce back," Smith said. "He's a very talented player, very tough, hard-nosed kid. We had no answer for him.

"He got off to a great start shooting the ball and never really let up. When that happens to you, it can be a long night."

Releford was at his best during the 10 or so minutes when the game was in balance. His first of three 3-pointers during a 2-minute stretch put Alabama ahead, 5-4. He sprinkled in two more while the rest of his teammates heated up, particularly in transition.

Guard Retin Obasohan's dunk snapped a 20-20 tie midway through the first half and gave Alabama a lead it would not relinquish.

"Trevor really stepped up and put the team on his back with some big
shots that kind of got the crowd into it and gave our team a level of
excitement," Alabama coach Anthony Grant said. "They came out and really attacked us at the rim. I'm proud of the way our guys weathered the storm."

The Red Raiders (2-1) never really mounted much of a run in the second half, as Alabama led by double digits for almost all of it. After back-to-back easy shots by Texas Tech's Jordan Tolbert to open the half, Alabama answered with the first dunk of freshman Jimmie Taylor's Alabama career and a trick play of sorts Releford tries out "twice a year," Grant said.

With two defenders pointing their back toward him, Releford in-bounded the ball to himself under the basket by plunking it off one of the players' backs. They were the two easiest points Releford scored all night.

"You've got to read the defense," Releford said. "I saw both of them not paying attention to the ball and I took a chance. It played in my favor."

Releford logged his standard number of minutes (33) one game after he was locked to the bench with foul trouble. Obasohan, who had 15 points, four rebounds and four assists, logged a game-high 37 minutes and Rodney Cooper (7 points, seven rebounds) was on the floor for 36.

Taylor, who played just three minutes in the opener, started and finished with 4 points, four blocks and six rebounds. Levi Randolph added 10 points in 27 minutes off the bench.

Junior-college transfer Algie Key, who led Alabama with 20 points against Oklahoma, played 11 minutes and scored 2 points.

"It's still a work in progress for us," Grant said. "I thought the guys
did a pretty good job. Different lineups allowed us to do different
things offensively and defensively. We've got some guys that probably
played too many minutes."

When Releford avoids foul trouble and shoots the way he did Thursday, it's hard to imagine his playing time dipping.

"He's got such an ability to get in the lane and make plays in the lane; probably one of the best finishers in the country," Grant said. "When you combine his
speed and ball-handling, his ability to get in the lane with his ability
to shoot the basketball from range on a consistent basis, I think he's
got a chance to be one of the best point guards in the country."